CONTEXT: Causes and consequences of climatic migration

Climatic migrations happen in the context of the developmental pattern associated with the capitalist system. In one hand, this pattern enables the states and transtantional entities to overexploit natural resources and to degrade the environment, forcing persons and families to emigrate. A good example of this situation are massive projects that utilize basic resources like soil, fauna, and local flora (like mining and dams), and that happen with the permission of governments. Read the rest of this entry »

Climate change, caused by predatory actions of capitalist model, has become one of the main causes of migration globally: 50 million in 2010 and the estimate for 2050 is that 200 million people could eventually be at risk of being displaced, although other estimates consider more than one million climate migrants for the future.

In 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that massive human migration could perhaps be the most serious consequence of climate change. Different studies have estimated that migration due to climate change could affect between 200 million and 1 billion people by the year 2050.

What means should be adopted confront climate change migration? Why talk about migrants and not climate change refugees? How can the human rights of climate change migrants be guaranteed? How can developed countries compensate climate change migrants? This working group will analyze one of the least-discussed topics of climate change negotiations: that of climate migrants.

Although climate problems were a main reason for the first migrations of antique societies (Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc) these peoples moved in pursuit of better living conditions more than because of exclusively environmental reasons. Nowadays, environmental degradation and climate change are starting to become structural causes for migration. (This will be the main cause in the future). Some parts of the planet will become ejector points due to climate change, originating population transfers due to food and water shortage and the floods and storms increased in frequency and gravity. Read the rest of this entry »